THE "Beast from the East" is not a weather anomaly or a result of manmade global warming but is a natural event which has happened several times in the past, it has been reported.

When the perishing Beast struck this month it was a result of the Gulf Stream changing course which blew in icy temperatures from Siberia across to the UK.

While Europe froze the artic was unseasonably warm with a spike 35C above average which led to The Guardian columnist George Monbiot tweeting: “This is more than just a temperature anomaly, it is an off-the-scale event. Why is the Arctic meltdown not headline news in every paper?”

But according to blogger and Climate Change sceptic Paul Homewood, this is a result of what is known as Sudden Stratospheric Warming which even the Met Office explains is a natural phenomenon.

He points out that the Met Office blog ran a piece on February 16 about the blizzards 40 years ago.

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Climate change sceptic claims the Beast from the East is nothing extraordinary

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It said: "It is the 40th anniversary of the start of what was one of the worst blizzards to have affected the United Kingdom in the last 100 years. It affected South West England and South Wales for five days from 15th to 19th February 1978 before milder weather edged in bringing a general thaw.

"The cold air initially moved into the UK from the east around the 7th, and was further enhanced by a cold pool of air moving in from central Europe between the 10th and 14th.

"The weather set up, with a huge contrast in air-masses either side of a weather front, led to considerable snowfall for the South West on the 15th and 16th and this was followed on the 18th and 19th by an unusually severe blizzard which extended to south Wales."

Mr Homewood the figures suggest there was more snow in 1978 and The Met Office report for the month said most of the snow fell between 18-19 which is a similar length to Storm Emma.

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Climate change: the sceptic points out that a piece on the Met Office blog

He said: "Extreme snowfall events, such as this week’s are still comparatively rare in England, but have regularly happened in the past. There is certainly no justification in playing the global warming card."

Mr Homewood then quoted the longest record of Arctic temperatures going back to before 1800.

The figures show how the temperatures have risen and fallen in cycles with the last period of warmth being the 30s and 40s.

Mr Homewood said: "Looking back through the record, temperatures like that in February are pretty commonplace. Even so, Wednesday was the coldest February day since 1991."

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Climate change: Mr Homewood then quoted the longest record of Arctic temperatures going back to befo

His blog, notalotofpeopleknowthat, is dedicated to "bringing some sanity to the Climate Change debate" and has been mentioned in The Telegraph.

In his blog, he added: "I have long been pointing out that the run of mild winters we have had in recent years have been notable for the relative absence of really cold spells, rather rising temperatures across the board.

"This week proves that the cold weather has not gone away."

Before concluding: "Sorry, George, but that white stuff outside is not what global warming looks like!"